[mridula]

NDTV says 8-10 new commandos have entered Oberoi.

[machadinha]

Originally Posted by byronic

My friend Arun's blog with his first hand story. He is in Colaba right next to the Taj and Leopold Cafe.

http://arunshanbhag.com/2008/11/26/m...aj-is-burning/

with his photos just uploaded of the event.

Much appreciated, Byron, give him our best.

Chilling photographs, btw.

[mridula]

And on many news channels they keep saying breaking news for the same news for 2 hours.

[judecg]

hmm... skyped with mum and dad in Canada... came back and nothing has really changed it appears. Now they're talking about the cricket being cancelled.. that's not news!

I think I might head to bed finally. Really hope to wake and find those poor people rescued and safe.

Wish all the best for you wherever on the globe you are.

[Ignite]

See you Jude, lets hope all of this gets better soon enough.

[byronic]

Originally Posted by machadinha

My friend Arun's blog with his first hand story. He is in Colaba right next to the Taj and Leopold Cafe.

http://arunshanbhag.com/2008/11/26/m...aj-is-burning/

with his photos just uploaded of the event.

Much appreciated, Byron, give him our best.

Chilling photographs, btw.

Yes true citizen reporting Arun has done here in his blog post.

Especially the part where he tells about his friend's brother who was killed in the attacks. The kid acted to save his family, and ended up getting shot.

""I went to visit my friend whose brother was killed in front of this store. On hearing the shots, customers rushed in, and so did his father (who works as a tailor in a neighboring store). The kid ran out to pull the metal shutter down.
He did bring the shutter down (and possibly saved the others inside), but he ended up outside the store. The terrorists were shooting indiscriminately; he caught five bullets; One went through and through his stomach! They operated on him till 5 am when he was pronounced dead. His body is undergoing an autopsy. His family and relatives were wailing loudly when I visited. I could not bear to enter, but called my friend outside to offer my condolences. He leaves behind a wife and two kids.""

Its the simple acts of bravery like this that do not get reported in the media. This man who gave his life to save his family are the true hard working regular folks of Mumbai.

[machadinha]

Oh, jesus, I'd missed that.

What to say...

[mridula]

NDTV is reporting two explosions at Nariman House now.

[mridula]

At nearly 3.00 am in India most of the news channels are still reporting terrorists at all the three sites, Taj, Oberoi and Nariman House.

I am calling it a day.

[mazha]

Originally Posted by kayozz

There just seems to be so many contradictory reports on whether there are/were hostages. Whether they terrorists are speaking Urdu or Punjabi. Apparantly one of the captured terrorists is confirmed to be from Faridkot, Pakistan but then NDTV also says some of the terrorists pretending to be from Hyderabad.

http://www.topsamachar.com/live/ndtv.php

Comment from Sepia Mutiny:

>According to NDTV they were told to *pretend* to be from India. >The army officer in charge seemed to strongly suggest that they >were from Pakistan. The captured guy is also supposedly from >Pakistan. Hopefully this will spur cooperation between the >respective governments.

Strange as this may seem, I consider this encouraging. For three reasons:

1)For all the training and money and the indoctrination, the so-called "sleeper cells" in India were not willing/competent/motivated enough to undertake such an operation.

2)The fact that they came all the way from Karachi, risking the revelation of their nationality, indicates that this was an act of desperation. It is an effort to stay in the limelight, without which the adrenalin gets dissipated and the organisation withers away. But the desperate operation ripped off the "deniability" veneer, and suggests that the organisation is no longer under the control of their political handlers.

3)The above also indicates that India is using very well the biggest asset any government has against terrorism -- entropy. Of course, India is not using it intentionally, but wait-out-the-adrenalin is probably the most sensible strategy against terrorism, as proactive counter insurgency efforts (like Israel's) only helps the organisation recruit more. If you resist long enough, most extremist organisations will eat themselves. And looks like we are reaching that point against the anti-India ones.

Overall, I would say we are witnessing the last hurrah. There will be more violence in the coming months, but this is the beginning of the end, especially if India and Pakistan cooperates on this, with or without the IMF twisting its knots.

[therebster]

I have been watching the awfulness that has been the recent terrorist attacks on Mumbai and my thoughts go out to all those who have become involved in this tragedy.

I wondered if there were any other fellow travellers planning a trip to india over the Christmas period? I have read the up and coming advice on http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travelling-...oceania/india/

which is useful, however I wanted to put a question out there to see if anyone has any other thoughts on travelling in india in the next few weeks?

thank you for any advice or thoughts - thinking of all those in india

[biswassb]

Originally Posted by mazha

Comment from Sepia Mutiny:

>According to NDTV they were told to *pretend* to be from India. >The army officer in charge seemed to strongly suggest that they >were from Pakistan. The captured guy is also supposedly from >Pakistan. Hopefully this will spur cooperation between the >respective governments.

Strange as this may seem, I consider this encouraging. For three reasons:

1)For all the training and money and the indoctrination, the so-called "sleeper cells" in India were not willing/competent/motivated enough to undertake such an operation.

2)The fact that they came all the way from Karachi, risking the revelation of their nationality, indicates that this was an act of desperation. It is an effort to stay in the limelight, without which the adrenalin gets dissipated and the organisation withers away. But the desperate operation ripped off the "deniability" veneer, and suggests that the organisation is no longer under the control of their political handlers.

3)The above also indicates that India is using very well the biggest asset any government has against terrorism -- entropy. Of course, India is not using it intentionally, but wait-out-the-adrenalin is probably the most sensible strategy against terrorism, as proactive counter insurgency efforts (like Israel's) only helps the organisation recruit more. If you resist long enough, most extremist organisations will eat themselves. And looks like we are reaching that point against the anti-India ones.

Overall, I would say we are witnessing the last hurrah. There will be more violence in the coming months, but this is the beginning of the end, especially if India and Pakistan cooperates on this, with or without the IMF twisting its knots.

I disagree. I believe it is just the beginning. It will stop only when the entire world comes under the Law of Sharia.

[yourasian]

er..say what??? dont want to get into aguement but i find that deeply diturbed "WHOLE WORLD UNDER SH.." it you mean, i never have considered any culture or religion more violent desperate or disturbed than another but..this is getting near and its sad because you know what their brains have been washed and programmed with hate. I think one has to look at the long term and and a long way in the past also. I dont blame musliman as such generaly ofcourse the jihadist mentality we here all the time but the main struggle of the human mind is to not be tempted by the baser human nature, the reptilian part of the brain. Now with the naxalite execution of the hindu priest blamed on xtians to stir up hate and now this? Well its blatant external workings that to my mind is controlled by the rich exploiting the poor. These killers really were used and thats a fact probably brainwashed with complicated techniques. I suspect the sad fact is there is an entity in the world whose aim is to destabilise those countrys who have a chance like india and i wont point fingers here but we all know our history and the perogative of very rich nations.

[BlueTick]

I haven't been to Mumbai, don't know anyone there, and live on the other side of the world...but somehow this seems to have happened close by. My thoughts are with Mumbai and its people.

[kristinm]

Originally Posted by byronic

My friend Arun's blog with his first hand story. He is in Colaba right next to the Taj and Leopold Cafe.

http://arunshanbhag.com/2008/11/26/m...aj-is-burning/

with his photos just uploaded of the event.

Please pass on our best wishes to Arun as well - The view of the Taj from our hotel window in Garden Rd must have overlooked his place as well pretty much. I almost wish I was there - although I'm glad I'm not, in only the 7 days we spent in Colaba we felt a part of the Colaba family.. such is the warmth and friendliness of people in that beautiful area with its trees and lovely old buildings. I'm sure this will all survive...